


Worlds of Difference

by faithinthepoor



Series: Red Queen - OUaT [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-02-22 20:54:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2521427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithinthepoor/pseuds/faithinthepoor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Day 3 of Red Queen Week - Not Quite Cannon - This was meant to be in response to the prompt "Ruby got a scar on her side by saving Regina's life" but it mentions that only obliquely at best (the piece just kind of went off of its own accord).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worlds of Difference

She sits clutching at the remanets of a life never really lived and wonders how she managed to let everything fall apart. She worked for this, she fought for this, she literally sacrificed for this, how can she have just let it all slip out of her hands?

The pursuit of happiness has been her undoing. In a way she has always known that it would be, that it was folly to want things that could never come to pass. Happiness was never hers for the taking. 

She was slower on the uptake than someone of her intellect should have been. For the longest time she honestly believed that happiness could be found. She ignored all of the indicators to contrary and continued to assert that if she tried hard enough, the obstacles to her finding joy could be overcome.

The obstacles were many, and often of her own making, but she remained undaunted. She had tasted happiness once and she was determined that it would be hers again. No amount of killing or maiming bothered her so long as she was able to keep her goal in mind. She would become all powerful and when she did she would prove Rumpel and the poor excuse for a necromancer wrong - she would find a way to get Daniel back. 

She wants to laugh now at the means she justified in her attempts to bring her love back from the dead. What could they have possibly even been to one another after all that she had done? It was a dead boy who sent her on this quest but it was a girl who destroyed her. A girl who guaranteed that this land could never hold the happiness that Regina craved.

The door to Henry's bedroom opens and said girl appears. She doesn't have to look up to know who it is, she both knew and feared that the girl would come. In many ways this is more painful than the inevitable pitchfork to the heart that is her fate will be.

"You shouldn't be here," she says in a voice unsteady from tears

"Well," the girl laughs, "hasn't that always been the truth." She doesn’t leave. She comes to sit on the bed beside Regina.

She still doesn't bother to look at the girl, her head hangs as low as she feels, “They will come for me, you must know that.”

“Then they will find both of us.” The girl is a fool and always has been.

“I will not have you risk yourself like that, not for me.”

Red, because there can be no doubt that this is the Red that she knew rather than the waitress the girl became, reaches up and brushes hair out of Regina’s eyes before tucking it behind her ears, “I will not let anything happen to you.”

“I know, dear,” she says with sincerity, “that’s always been the problem."

. . . . . . . .

Her eyes burn and her lungs choke on smoke that isn't there. She once again tries to counter the curse that has afflicted her but to no avail. Her magic flows sluggish and useless in her veins and without it she is terrified and defenceless.

On a horse she might have the chance of outrunning her pursuers but on foot she is doomed. The thought is completely unacceptable to her. Everything that she has done she did to ensure that she would not just prevail but endure. There was a time when she would have welcomed death and the opportunity to be reunited with Daniel but that time has passed. It is both too late and too soon in her journey for him to see her. If they met now he would only see what he has lost. He must never see what she has become, he must only see what she is becoming - what she will be when she gains the power and knowledge to bring him back to her. 

She cannot will her death not to occur. It's a humbling thought for one who has begun to see herself as indestructible. Now, as branches clutch at her skin and roots reach up to catch her feet, she feels unbelievably fragile. She is little more than paper being blown in the wind and this forest is going to rip her to shreds. 

Better the forest than those who hunt her she decides. Her death may be inevitable but it's far more palatable to believe that it will come at the hands of a broken neck from a fall than to think that Snow will slay her. She desperately wants to be spared that final indignity. If necessary she will gouge her own eyes out rather than be forced to witness Snow standing over her in triumph. 

Her boots are impractical for this kind of terrain and she skids and slips with almost every step. One particularly poor misstep sends her flying as a rock rolls out from underfoot and she crashes into a large branch. 

She remains upright, barely, but the full force of the impact has been taken by her head. She can feel the skin on her forehead tightening and her vision becomes further impaired as blood drips down from the wound into her eye. She lets out a cry of frustration knowing that she is being hampered by a wound that she could normally mend without so much as a second thought. 

It has become harder going. Her movements weren't exactly graceful to start with but now they lack any sense of coordination. She ricochets between trees struggling to continue with a vaguely forward motion. The world around her is darkening and she tells herself that it's simply that it is night and she is moving deeper into the woods and but she can feel her consciousness slipping from her. 

In the darkness she fails to see the embankment ahead and it's only when her feet don’t find purchase that she realises the gravity of her error. She tumbles forward, end over end, towards her demise. 

The fall doesn't kill her but death waits on its heels. She can hear movement in the underbrush and knows that they are coming for her. She prepares herself for the arrival of their lanterns and the pierce of Snow's arrow but what arrives is a creature of the darkness. 

It traverses the incline with ease and then skulks towards her. Its fur stands to attention as it crouches close to the ground and bears its teeth. The animal must be able to smell her fear and her blood and she is certain that her life is about to end. It is a small comfort to know that her death will be due to this magnificent beast rather than at the hands of a simpering child. 

The last thing she sees is sharp teeth flashing in the moonlight before everything fades to black. 

She awakens to a sunlight dabbled grove. Everything feels damp and sticky and it is difficult to move. It takes her a moment to realise that this is because she is partially buried. Dirt and leaves cover her body and even with her good eye her vision is limited. Her first thought is that the wolf is keeping her here so that it may feast on fresh flesh when it returns. Her second thought is that she is being protected because the animal has managed to obscure her from view from both the ridge and from those on the ground, providing they don't come to close. 

It ridiculous given she is battered and covered with the decay of the forest floor but she feels comforted. Safe. 

She does realise that shielding her from view and saving her to eat later are hardly mutually exclusive but she can't shake the feeling that the wolf meant her no harm. 

Friend or foe the wolf is not a priority at the moment. She needs to get herself moving. Even people as hapless as Snow and Charming have a chance of finding her if she remains still. 

She takes a deep breath and realises that although bruised and broken her body is back to normal. Magic thrums in her blood, in her soul. She closes her eyes and sends healing waves through her body. Bones knit and skin mends and her face returns to its original shape.

When she is satisfied that she is as good as new she extricates herself from her shallow grave. The ground she is standing on is wet and muddy and her heels sink in leaving a mark. No matter. She can easily repair the damage to her shoes and she will not be staying around to leave any more of a trail. 

She's not sure what compels her to check but she looks to see if there is evidence of where the beast went. The area where she was buried is surrounded by wolf prints but there is also a distinct set of barefoot human prints leaving the area. Well, she thinks to herself, things just got a lot more interesting.

. . . . . . . .

.  
She makes a display of sniffing at the air and then turns to the group and holds up her hands in supplication. "I'm sorry but I've lost her."

"How can this have happened? We had her trail, you had her scent."

She bristles at the accusation that Charming doesn't even realise that he is making and says, "I said I'm sorry. I did have the scent but it's just gone."

"It's not your fault," Snow says warmly, coming to place a supportive hand on her shoulder, "that spell clearly wasn't all we were promised it would be. This is what we get for dealing with those who trade in magic. None of them can be trusted."

"It was a sound plan," Charming grumbles.

"It was the closest we've gotten," Snow allows, "but I don't think we should trust our fate to magic. It makes us no different to her."

"We are not like her, Snow, and we never will be but there is nothing that I wouldn't do to keep you safe." Snow leaves Red's side to go and embrace him and she feels uncomfortable witnessing the display. These people are her friends, they have been good to her and she has failed them. She had the opportunity to remove their mortal enemy and return them to the throne and she couldn't go through with it.

She is not unfamiliar with killing. Even though she now has some control over the beast the killing continues. She may restrict herself to animals but there is no denying that the passion of the hunt and the thrill of the kill can make her feel alive in a way that little else can. 

Red is not always aware of everything that she has done in wolf form but what happened with the Queen is different. She has no idea what happened, no memory of the events at all, that is something that hasn't happened in a long time. Not since she met her mother. Nice since.... _before_.

There is access to memories of catching the Queen's scent and of the ground flying beneath her feet as she gained on her prey. There was a sense of exhilaration as blood filled the air that spurred her to move faster. She can remember seeing the body on the ground and the sense of frustration she felt over being cheated of the triumph that comes with bringing an animal down. 

She has a vague recollection of approaching her quary and then there is nothing. The next memory she has is waking up on the ground next to a pile of dirt that clearly housed a body. For a terrifying moment she thought she had returned to her old ways but this was something new, something different.

The Queen was still alive and she has no explanation as to what would have made her cover up her prey. Even in her human form she could smell blood and she knew that the woman was gravely injured. In leaving the Queen there she may well have sealed her fate but she couldn’t bring herself to actively harm someone who, in that moment, clearly felt like a victim. Nor could she bring herself to reveal the location of the body to the hunting party.

This leads her to her current predicament where she is stuck lying to people that she cares about. She has deliberately led them far from the trail in hopes of giving their enemy a chance to survive. This feels like behaviour that needs a very good explanation and it disturbs her greatly that she doesn't have one.

. . . . . . . .

Prior to now she has failed to pay attention to the rumours that abound regarding the members of Snow's band. They were beneath her contempt, they were most certainly beneath her notice. She was happy to kill anyone who had ever given Snow quarter and beyond that the details of the individuals were inconsequential. Now her ears prick up when she hears whisperings on the wind about the wolf who runs with Snow White.

The wolf is close to Snow, some refer to the creature as Snow's second in command - a fact that brings a smile to her face when she realises that even the people crying out of their hero recognise that Snow's "prince" is a bumbling fool. 

She tries to use the mirror to learn more about the object of her fascination but the former genie appears to be being recalcitrant. She is shown flashes of dark hair and glimpses of a red coat but little else of value. It's tantalising in a way but it is nowhere near close to what she wants.

When idle gossip and fuzzy images are no longer enough to keep her interested she decides to become more active in her pursuit of the wolf. To that end she summons the Huntsman to her chambers in order to investigate what it would require to capture the beast. He is not the most reliable of minions, because of his actions Snow's heart still beats in her chest which is more than can be said for his, but he definitely has an affinity for wolves. 

It's possible that she is being paranoid but she feels he is being as evasive as the mirror. He gives her what feel like half answers. Partial truths that have face value but wouldn't actually aid in her capture of the animal. It irritates her that he could be capable of defying her when she holds his heart. 

He is lucky that he is still of use to her because she is tempted to squeeze his traitorous heart until it is reduced to dust or at least until it results in unbearable pain. She's determined to find the wolf and like it or not he will help her, he just needs to be reminded of where he stands.

She commands him to come to her bed and she straddles his prone body with glee. His mind might be able to rebel against her but his body is incapable of such betrayal. His hips buck against her even as he glares into her eyes. She doesn't bother to divest him of his clothing, Regina has no interest in prolonging this engagement, her only agenda is to take what she needs and remind him of his place.

With minimal effort she lifts his tunic and works her hand into his pants. His desire for her is obvious and he closes his eyes in shame as her fingers find definite evidence of his arousal.

He grunts and rolls her onto her back. Her first instinct is to punish him for his impudence but when he rips her undergarments in his quest to enter her she decides that this might be a better option. In this position there is no avoiding the fact that he is an active and willing participant in these acts. Still, his insolence cannot be allowed to go unchecked. 

Her lips and nails ravish his body. Branding him and bringing him unpleasant pain. Her own arousal increases as he winces in response to her ministrations. She moves her hands to his ass encouraging him to thrust harder and deeper. He doesn't disappointment, he grabs her legs, drawing them up over her body and instructs her to hold her knees. The position is difficult in the gown she is wearing but she complies and it's worth it to see his eyes widen in approval before her ruts her like the dog that he is.

When she has taken her pleasure she pushes him to the floor and orders him out of her suite, out of her sight. His irritation is spelt clearly on his face but his attempt at defiance dies in his eyes as he meets her cold gaze. He will leave her bed because this is what she wills, just as he will enter it when it pleases her, and although he may not want to, in the end, he will help her find her wolf.

. . . . . . . .

Ale sloshes over the side of the tankard as it is thumped on the table in front of her. She has probably already had more than her share but she is not yet numb. Her side still stings where she was struck by a sword. The wound has been packed and is covered by a poultice but it is a constant reminder of how close she came to not being her to share a drink with her comrades.

Grumpy has consumed far more than any of them, which is probably unwise given his size, and yet he pounds on the table and demands another round. Most of the other dwarves are asleep already, some of them have their heads on the table whereas others have fallen off the back of the bench and are lying in an undignified heap on the floor. The inn keeper should likely have stopped serving them long ago but they are with Snow. The people rally behind their princess and chosen queen and would deny her nothing. Besides, they very nearly died today and no one would deny them their right to celebrate.

She has tuned out Grumpy's somewhat exaggerated retelling of their tales of daring and focuses on trying to make this drink last longer than the last. It's not all that safe for her to keep drinking. Drinking seems to have resulted in strange and conflicted thoughts about the nature of their cause. It make no sense for her to be troubled by uncertainty. They are on the side of right, they are fighting an evil tyrant who is terrorising their lands, there should be absolutely no room for doubt.

There was no doubt in mind when she was fleeing from the guards earlier today that the situation was kill or be killed. She was comfortable with her choices in that moment but now, sitting in the tavern, while her friends plot the cold blooded demise of their unwanted monarch her confidence wanes. There is no reason that this situation should leave her feeling uneasy - the Queen has made her desire to kill Snow clear and Red would do anything to protect her friend. 

Snow must detect that she is being thought about as she looks over to Red, her eyes dimed a little by the ale, and mouths, "Are you okay?"

She nods in reply but it seems that Snow is not satisfied with this response as she makes her way around the table, delicately stepping over fallen dwarves, in order to reach her. Snow's bow arm is in a sling but she seems to be feeling no pain. She swings her other arm across Red's shoulders and says, "We are going to be okay."

Snow places a sloppy kiss to Red's cheek and then raises her drink and waits for Red to respond. She dutifully lifts her ale and bumps the tankards together. "To friendship," Snow says.

"To survival," she replies.

"To victory," Grumpy trumpets and the rest of the group take up his call. 

She remains silent and hopes the others do not notice. There would have had it all - friendship, survival, victory - if she hadn’t have let them down. Red held their enemy’s life in her hands, she held their freedom in her hands, and she betrayed their cause. She sits here and drinks to her friends but all the while she is traitor. Grumpy manages to catch her eye and insists that she join in his cry, "To victory," she shouts as she promises herself that she will not fail them again. The next time she sees the Queen she will do what she should have done in the first place, she will kill her.

. . . . . . . .

No one blinks an eye, well at least no one is willing to do that in front of her, when she creates a bounty for the girl and places wanted posters for her up alongside Snow and Charming. Her obsession with Snow is hardly a secret, she would be a failure if it was, and offering a reward to capture a prominent ally of her enemy is not an act that could be considered suspicious.

What might be a little more suspect is her insistence that she wants the wolf girl brought in alive. Her guards are reticent and they caution her on the danger of this plan until she breaks the neck of the most outspoken objector and reminds them all that she is more dangerous than any animal that they might come across. She tells them that this act would be a two pronged attack - it would serve to cripple Snow and also give them a powerful weapon. In the hands of their Queen this animal will become an invaluable asset. 

The Huntsman also tries to counsel her against her plan. He has the insight, and enough self-preservation, to do this in private. He warns of the distress it would cause a wolf to be kept against its will and she can see him struggling with his own demons on this issue. The fool mistakes her for someone who would care about suffering, be it his or the animal's and she decides that when she breaks the beast her first act will be to have it forcibly remind the Huntsman that he is no position to question her. 

In the end it is a punishment she decides to let slide as her huntsman is the one to capture the animal and bring it safely to her. Well, he brings her to her dungeon to see the unconscious form of a girl lying on the cold floor and tells her that when the moon is at its fullest that she will have her beast.

She kisses him with more tenderness than she has ever bothered to afford him before and he looks at her in dismay and says, "I didn't do this for you," but they both know it's a lie.

He appears grateful when she dismisses him and she would have wiped that look off his face if she weren't more interested in her prize. The girl remains resolutely and infuriating asleep. She is dainty, the manacle around the ankle that chains her to the wall seems completely unnecessary, and she is far more beautiful than the glimpses Regina has caught in the mirror or the sketch on the wanted posture would have suggested. Normally she would feel a sense of concern at that, her looks are what have allowed her to manipulate so easily and it is always uncomfortable to realise that she could have competition in that arena, but as watches the girl on all that she can think is that she should kill the artist for his failure to do the girl justice. 

She waits, longer than befits a Queen, for night to fall and the transformation to occur but her wait is in vain. Either the rumours about this girl were unfounded or the poison arrow that brought her down and kept her asleep has prevented the transformation to the wolf.

It is not outside the realm of possibility that this is yet another of the Huntsman's tricks. This girl may be no more a wolf than that heart belonged to Snow White. He probably thinks that it would now be impossible for her to punish him for such a crime, or perhaps he hopes that this would be the treachery that finally means that she kills him. She will allow him no such freedom, no such easy death. There are ways to punish even those who believe that they are beyond hope. If this girl is not who he claims she is then Regina will make the Huntsman watch as she tracks down and kills every single wolf in the kingdom.

She returns to her quarters, annoyed that her evening has been wasted but after she changes into her nightgown and slips beneath her sheets she realises that if this is nothing but a trick, she could do worse than to have a close friend of Snow's chained in her cell. That thought allows her to drift off to sleep content.

. . . . . . . .

The surroundings are completely unfamiliar and there is a definite taste of blood in her mouth. It's thicker and richer than the blood she has become used to and its undertones are dark and seductive. She has no memory of what has occurred but she knows without a doubt that she has fallen, that she has again feasted on humans.

She looks at the deep and desperate scratches on the opulent door in front of her and wonders if she has managed to fulfil her unspoken promise to Snow, if she has managed to kill the Queen. The thought makes her feel sick to her stomach, it sits more uncomfortably than the blood that she knows is congealing there. She knows that her discomfort is a small price to pay for a successful revolution, the blood that she has split will actually save countless lives, but if this is how heroes feel then she is glad that it's possible that her fighting days are at an end because victory has no right to feel this bad. 

Her eyes scout the corridor assessing her escape routes and looking for anything that she can use to cover herself up. She is going to need to use all of her stealth to get herself out of this castle, she does not need the added difficulty of attempting to do this unclothed. She has learnt from bitter experience that naked people tend to draw attention to themselves. 

The area gives her no options for coverage, of any description, and no clue as to which way she should go. She has no choice but to blindly decide whether she should go left or right. Red places her hand on the wall and cautiously starts off to her left. She doesn't manage to reach the point where the corridor branches before the door opens up behind her. 

"Ah, good, I see you are finally up," a voice dripping with sex and power calls out.

She increases her pace but finds herself surrounded by cloud of purple that transports her right back to where she started. "Now, now," the Queen says as she traces a finger down the side of Red's face, "there is no need to run."

"From the woman who has captured me? I think there probably is," she holds her held high and makes sure she meets the monster's gaze. The Queen laughs in her face but it's not the kind of evil cackle that she has heard tell of, it's light and melodious and full of whimsy.

"It would seem the wolf likes me more than you do. It had every opportunity to escape last night and yet it slept outside my door."

"After it did it's best to break through that door to kill you," she replies and points to the damage that the wood has taken.

"Oh that?" the Queen says dismissively, "I suspect that was because I wouldn't let you come inside to sleep. I will not have you shedding all over the furniture."

This is not at all how this conversation should be going, the Queen may have her magic but Red is not something to be mocked, she is something to be feared. "I could have killed you last night," she says with a growl.

"Yes, you could of," the Queen agrees amicably, "but you didn't just like you didn't the first time we met, now why is that I wonder?"

"I really don't know," she answers forlornly

The Queen gives her a slow smile before taking Red's chin between her thumb and forefinger, "Good," she tells her, as though Red's answer to her question had been acceptable. "Now, come, let us feed you."

She is so bamboozled by the interaction that she doesn't even think to protest. Before she has even registered what is happening she finds herself behind a closed door and firmly in what must be the Queen's suite. "Where are my manners?" the woman asked absently as she waves her hand and Red finds herself dressed in her own clothes. 

"Where, where were these?" she asks with more timidness than she is used to feeling.

"I magicked them from the cell where you left them."

"So you didn't take them off me."

The Queen's eyes rake over her body slowly and appreciatively, "No I did not. At least not this time."

Red feels a surge of desire rise in response to the Queen’s scrutiny and she would pay more attention to that feeling if she was not so preoccupied with the worrying information that she may have removed her own clothes. It suggests a conscious decision to take off her cloak. She is no stranger to willingly embracing the wolf but she is not used to having no recollection of the decision to make the transformation. She knows that it will not pay to let the Queen sense her confusion and so she does her best to sound confident as she says, “There will not be any other times, I will not be staying here.”

“I hope you will at least stay for breakfast. I’ve organised to have it brought to my room.” 

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that I’m your prisoner in order to be civil whilst we break bread?”

The Queen gives her a look that she cannot read, “I had thought you might be hungry but if you’d prefer to leave before the food arrives you are welcome to go.”

Her head hurts because absolutely none of this makes sense, “Back to my cell you mean?”

“Do you see any chains on you?” The Queen acts wounded, as though somehow she is the one who has been wronged.

“You mentioned that I was in a cell,” she pointedly reminds.

The other woman tilts her head and her eyes narrow, “You don’t remember that?”

“No I don’t. I remember being struck by an arrow and then the next thing I knew I was outside that door,” she gestures towards said door with her head.

“So, do you not remember what happens when you are the wolf?” The question is casual, as if this is the sort of conversation the Queen has on a regular basis.

“I usually do,” she admits.

“But not last night,” it’s a statement rather than a question.

“No,” she agrees, “not last night.”

“Perhaps it was due to the arrow you were shot with,” the Queens wonders with a frown.

“Perhaps,” she will not admit that this is the second time that she has suffered amnesia in her enemy’s presence. “I assume that you were responsible for that arrow.”

“In part. I wanted you caught. I never wanted you injured.”

“I’m sure that you’ll understand if I don’t want to break fast with someone who ordered me captured.”

The Queen looks disappointed but she quickly replaces that look with one of confidence, “If you want to go the door is open.”

“You won’t try to stop me?” she tests the water.

“You are not a prisoner. I have no desire to keep you here against your will."

"You hunted me down."

"I wanted to meet you." the Queen raises a shoulder, "you intrigued me."

She really doesn’t know want to make to this woman - for an evil sorceress who has made their lives unbearable the Queen looks a lot like a lost and lonely child. "There were easier ways to go about that," she says softly 

"I’m not sure that there is a correct way to meet someone who is fighting against you and trying to kill you."

"I’ve never tried to kill you," the words are out of her mouth before she has a chance to realise what she is admitting to.

"No, no you haven't and I guess that's part of what intrigues me."

This exchange is becoming a little too comfortable and it's not appropriate to let that continue, "Maybe I was trying kill you last night but the poison that you gave me decreased my animals instincts somehow." It's a possible explanation for her behaviour and it's one that she wants to believe but she can still smell blood on her breath and she knows it's not the truth.

"I have sixteen dead guards that say otherwise," the Queen tells her with a self-satisfied smile.

"Oh," she says both horrified at the extent of the carnage and reassured that perhaps there was a reason that she failed in her quest to kill the Queen, "so I was just really full."

The Queen laughs again and Red doesn't want to admit it but she loves being the one to produce that response, "Were you full that night in the woods too?"

"No," she replies, deflated and defeated, "I don't understand why I didn't kill you when I had that chance."

"I told you, your wolf likes me."

"My wolf doesn't like anyone, trust me." Without her influence the wolf is incapable of anything but mayhem and violence.

"It let me pat it last night," the Queen informs her.

She's uncomfortable with the fact that that confession makes her fear for the safety of the other woman. "It is not a pet," she says angrily.

"Of course it's not and you are not a prisoner," the Queen says tiredly. "I hope...." whatever she was going to say is interrupted by the arrival of a serving woman, "…. that you are willing to partake in some food.”

The scent of meat fills her nostrils as the serving woman passes by her with the trays and her stomach growls loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. She smiles in embarrassment and says, “Maybe I could eat something.”

They follow the serving woman deeper into the chambers and the trays are set at a table by a large window. The rooms are imposing, they are large and dark, but there’s something sad and empty about them. This isn’t a home, not in any sense that she has ever known.

Once the serving woman takes her leave the Queen offers her a seat which she readily accepts, she has no choice, she is practically salivating. The Queen removes the covers from the trays and she is met with a large array of meats and fruits. There is far more food here than two people could possibly eat and she looks at the Queen questioningly.

The woman is haughty and Red realises that she is trying to cover embarrassment when she says, “I didn’t know what you would like.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asks.

The Queen doesn’t answer immediately, she picks at the food before selecting a berry and placing it in her mouth. The move is slow and sensuous. It's clearly meant to be seductive and Red is ashamed to admit that it has not been entirely unsuccessful. “As I said, you intrigue me.”

“There are creatures far more fascinating than me,” she says self-consciously as she rips some boar off a bone and samples it. The meat is succulent and tender and while she would never tell Granny it is the best that she has ever had.

“I can’t think of many creatures who wouldn’t have killed me when they had the chance.”

“I should have killed you. I still should,” she glances at the knife beside her, “I _should_ put this through your heart right now.”

“But you won’t.” The look that the Queen gives her is both hopeful and vulnerable.

“It would seem that I can’t.”

“Is that because you know I can kill you before you fingers ever touches the blade?"

“No,” she admits.

“Good,” the Queen tells her and then averts her eyes.

They eat in silence and even though Red tries to use her very best manners she feels like a feral animal compared with the Queen. The woman opposite her uses her utensils with delicacy and precision and holds her goblet as though it might break in her hands. She feels clumsy and unsophisticated and when she licks the juices off her fingers without thinking she wants to curl up and die. The Queen doesn’t criticise her though in fact her eyes follow that particular move with rapped attention.

She can feel a blush rising as she says, “If you are going to keep me here I do hope that all my meals are of this quality.”

“I’m not going to keep you here,” she feels a strange sense of rejection to hear the Queen say that, “not unless you want to stay.”

There is an alarmingly large part of her that isn’t completely repulsed by that idea. “I can’t stay, you must know that.”

“Of course,” the Queen agrees, “but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed.”

She keeps reminding herself that this woman’s manipulation skills are legendary but she can’t stop a thought that keeps worming its way into her mind that maybe, just maybe, this is something different. She stomps down that traitorous thought as she reminds both of them that, “You don’t even know me.”

“True but someone who won't kill me is probably as close to a friend as I'm ever likely to have."

In all the time they’ve been running and fighting she’s never stopped to think about the woman behind the Evil Queen. She’s not really sure that she ever even thought of her as a person. The woman before her doesn’t seem like a villain, she just seems like someone who is completely alone. She thinks about Snow and Charming and the dwarves and realises that although they might feel oppressed and aggrieved, and are legitimately fighting for their lives, they have so much more than their enemy. 

She reaches across the table to the Queen’s hand but stops herself for their skin touches. The Queen raises and eyebrow at her and she shrugs in return. “Can I ask a favour?”

“You may,” the Queen concedes.

“Can we keep the bit where I keep failing to kill you a secret?”

She wasn’t sure how the Queen would respond to that request but she didn’t expect the laugh that it evokes. “I didn’t go to all the trouble to find you just to place target on your back.”

“No. That’s what all those wanted posters are for.”

“I think you’ll find that those posters clearly state that I wanted you captured alive.”

“Well that makes me feel so much better.”

There is a frown on the Queen’s face as she says, “I don’t want you hurt.”

“Then how can you say that you are going to let me leave?”

“What do you mean?”

“Won’t people be suspicious that you just let me go?”

“They will assume that I control you, that I have sent you back to do my bidding unwillingly.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“It’s what they expect of me. It’s what I would normally do.”

That behaviour seems so out of keeping with the woman in front of her, “How did you turn into this?” 

She regrets the words as soon as she utters them and fears she will have raised the wrath of the Evil Queen but instead the Queen closes her eyes and says, “I really don’t know.”

“That’s not an answer,” she needs to stop talking, _now_ or she is going to end up dead.

“Some bad things happened and I made a lot of mistakes. I did a lot of things that I thought I was doing for good reasons but somehow it led here.”

“Are you happy?”

“Not for long, long time.”

“Then why do you do this?”

“Sometimes you find yourself too far down a road to turn and go back. Besides, I can’t fight what I am.”

She understands where the Queen is coming from, more than she wants to admit. “Maybe you can.”

The Queen doesn’t respond and they spend the rest of the meal in silence. When they are done the Queen leads her out. She hesitates at the door, “Are they really just going to let me pass?”

“Some of them may not be happy about it, particularly those who were friends with the guards that you killed, but no one will stop you.”

“Okay,” she says uncertainly. She enters the hallway but turns back around and asks, “Will I see you again?” She doesn’t explain but they both know what she means – will she see her like this, just the two of them, not the Evil Queen on the battlefield.

“I do hope so. You will always have safe passage in these walls.”

That information leaves her feeling conflicted, “I can’t promise that I will return.”

“I understand.”

“Okay,” she says. “Goodbye.”

She is part way down the corridor when she hears, “Regina.”

“What?” she asks as she turns back.

“Regina, my name is Regina.”

This is the most backwards meeting that she has ever had with anyone, “Nice to meet you Regina, I’m Red.”

“Goodbye Red.”

She knows that this was a mistake and that it can’t ever possibly happen again but it doesn’t change the fact that this really feels like a beginning.

. . . . . . .

Like clockwork she comes. Black as the night she infiltrates. Slinking through the halls with only one destination in mind. The girl may have reservations, and she makes those clear every time that they speak, but the wolf remains determined.

She opens the door and as she knew she would she finds the wolf. It lies across the entrance blocking the path for any who would dare to enter. It has long stopped scratching at her door but it continues to resolutely guard that which needs not guarding. She leans down towards the beast and it makes a display of showing its teeth before nuzzling into her touch. Her fingers run over the fur in firm strokes, she has learnt that being cautious only seems to produce hostility form the animal. 

The wolf nudges its head again her legs as she kneels on the floor, attempting to push her into the room. “No,” she says sharply and it whines at her like a pup, “you know you are not allowed in there.”

It turns its head away from her and rests it on its paws in a vague form of protest. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she says with affection.

Sunrise finds the girl already inside. Red sits at the table waiting for breakfast dressed in a robe that she has stolen from Regina’s closet. The first time she found Red in her clothing anger had flared inside of her and she felt fire forming in her clenched fists. The girl had sensed her arrival and turned to her with her chin raised in defiance and challenge blazing in her eyes and somehow her anger had evaporated.

“Making yourself at home I see, dear,” she had said.

“It seemed preferable to sitting around naked,” she wasn’t sure she agreed with that assessment but she had allowed Red to do what made her comfortable. It was a decision that she was particularly proud of when, on a later visit, Red had confessed that prior to looting her wardrobe she had felt uncomfortable, like she was a doll waiting for Regina to wake and play dress ups with her.

The sun glints off the stolen robe and she runs her hands across Red’s shoulder and then moves to join her at the table. “How long until the food arrives,” Red asks with no fear for the consequences of her impudence. “I do appear to have worked up quite an appetite.” 

Regina can think of better ways for them to work up an appetite but she lets it slide, “I guess it’s quite the journey on foot.”

“If that is your way of trying to get me to reveal Snow’s location you are wasting your time.”

She can feel her brow furrow, “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Regina,” Red sighs, “everyone is this castle believes that I’m a spy for you. Isn’t it only a matter of time before you start to use me as one?”

“Is that what you think is going on here?” It hurts what’s left of her heart that Red could think that she was capable of doing this to her.

“I’ve never really been sure what exactly is going on here.”

“I was under the impression that you came because you wanted to.” Her hands itch to fling the girl from the room.

“I’m here aren’t I?” Red says with a small smile.

“And I’m glad that you are.”

“Me too,” the smile on Red’s face grows, “but how long until people start to question that this arrangement isn’t working? Won’t they be suspicious that I’ve provided you with no useful information?”

“They would never question my motives.” She is certain that’s true, after all she gives them no reason not to fear her, but the thought of Red’s actions being under scrutiny makes her uncomfortable.

“I hope that’s the case.”

“At the very least they must have noticed that you’ve stopped ripping their throats out,” she had spoken lightly but Red pales at her words.

“That first night,” she pauses as though lost in a memory, “that was the first time I’d killed people in a long time.”

“I’m sorry,” she offers but it seems completely inadequate.

“It’s not your fault,” Red tells her.

“Yet I feel a sense of responsibility all the same.”

“Unless you’ve been secretly controlling me you have nothing to feel responsible about.”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do that kind of thing but I have not done that to you.”

“Enough of this,” Red says dismissively, “where’s my food. I’m ravenous. I might need to go back ripping out throats if you are going to take this long to feed me.”

“I’ll summon the food,” she says and she can see Red visibly relax.

Red’s eyes widen when the food is placed in front of her. The plate is laden with the things that the girl appeared to enjoy the most on her last visit. She manages to pause between bites to ask, “Have you been watching what I eat?”

“I have the kitchen staff take note of what things seem to be the most, shall we say, appreciated and ensure that they are included the next time if possible.” She drops her voice as she says, “I want you to enjoy you time here.”

“I certainly enjoy the food,” Red tells her with a bright smile.

Red is true to her word, devouring her food with relish, but when most of the food is consumed she slows, toying with the pieces that remain. It has become the pattern of late. Regina assumes that it’s Red’s way of prolonging their time together but neither of them acknowledge it openly.

Today Red’s procrastination extends beyond the meal. She draws out every moment of their journey through the rooms and then lingers at the door. Regina is sure that Red is not going to be the one to admit that she doesn’t want to leave and so she offers to let her stay.

Red’s cheeks match her name as she shakes her head emphatically. “I can’t.”

“It’s up to you,” she says and hopes she doesn’t sound as hurt as she feel, “you are welcome to stay as long as you would like.”

The girl is fidgeting and looks as though she is about to faint. “I have to go,” Red says and then she snarls and launces herself at Regina, kissing her soundly. Regina barely has time to respond before Red is off, scampering down the corridor like her life depends upon it.

. . . . . . . .

There are tears in Snow’s eyes and Red is becoming desperate, “Please Snow,” she begs, “please do this for me.”

“There is no need for this,” Snow tells her and reaches for her hand.

“Yes, yes there is,” she insists.

Snow looks at her with concern, “What’s happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Something must have happened or you wouldn’t be asking this of me.”

“It doesn’t matter.” She knows this is hurting Snow but she can’t possibly tell her the truth.”

“Of course it matters,” Snow is becoming increasingly distressed and if she is not careful this is all going to fail.

“Something’s changed,” she admits.

“What do you mean?” Snow asks.

“I’m no longer able to remember what I do when I’m the wolf and it terrifies me.”

“But you can’t have done anything bad. We’d know about it if you had.”

“So we should just wait until the bodies start piling up?” she snaps.

“No, of course not but this isn’t right. You have the cloak. I can stay with you, make sure you keep it on.”

“It’s not safe.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me.”

“You can’t know that,” she wants to hurt Snow right now for not listening to her, she has made it clear how important this is to her.

“You once told me that I was the first person to accept you for who you are. How can I be that person if I do this to you?”

“You wouldn’t be doing it to me, you’d be doing it _for_ me.”

“There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t,” she says quietly, “will you please just do this for me?”

Snow cries in earnest as she chains her to the wall and almost baulks at locking the door but at Red’s insistence she completes the task. 

Red knew that this was the only option and that she couldn’t listen to Snow insisting that she had control because Snow is completely wrong. She has no control at all. Not anymore. The moon is calling. _She_ is calling. Her scent beckons to Red across the kingdom and more than anything she wants to follow. She wants to surrender. She pulls against her chains desperate to answer Regina's siren call and her last waking thought is that this was a mistake

. . . . . . . .

Dusk falls and she tries to ignore that fact just as she has tried to ignore what tonight represents. She doesn’t want to acknowledge how terrified she is that Red won’t come. She will not admit that it has caused her pain not to see the girl for two moons. Thanks to mirror she knows that Red is still alive and in many ways that makes her feel worse.

Since their last meeting she has been distracted, she’s been focused on the kiss, she’s been able to think of little else. Clearly Red has been thinking about that kiss too but unlike Regina she is not interested in a repeat performance. She needs to stop dwelling on this. She is a Queen, she is powerful, she will not let this girl unsettle her.

It must be clear that this night has her on edge as she is being given a wider berth than usual and her staff are wise to do so. Those who are unfortunate enough to cross her path are treated harshly. She retires to her quarters when she realises that terrorising her minions is bringing her no satisfaction. The girl has made her soft. 

She checks the door more times than she’ll ever be willing to admit and she swears she hears something countless more times. There is no denying the elation that she feels when her final check is not fruitless. 

The wolf is not lying in its usual spot. It stands facing her, it seems to be waiting for her reaction. She steps aside and for the first time she lets the animal enter. She squashes down the thought that she is doing this for Red’s dignity. She has not need for such sentiment. The wolf and the girl are simply hers. They are not for others to see.

It strides through her suite with purpose and places itself at the foot of her bed. She nods her approval and readies herself for bed. It’s easier now that the wolf is here. The air seems cleaner, less oppressive. There is a lightness to her steps as she goes about her nightly routine. She hears a keening sound as she pulls back the covers. The wolf is clamouring for attention and she goes down on one knee to pat its fur but she reminds it that, “You are still not allowed on the furniture.”

That night sleep finds her swiftly but she does not wake of her own accord. She can feel hot breath falling against her skin and a tongue licks at her shoulder. She opens her eyes to scold the wolf but it’s the girl that she sees. To be more precise it is the girl’s form but she suspects that what she is seeing isn’t quite wolf or girl. Its eyes glow gold and it growls as it crawls up her body. This creature has hunted her before but for the first time she is truly its prey. She is helpless under its gaze and when it kisses her she surrenders entirely.

. . . . . . . .

She comes to her senses, so to speak, to find her senses completely overwhelmed. Regina is everywhere. The Queen’s scent bombards her nostrils, her fingers are entwined with Regina and their mouths are duelling. It takes her a moment to realise that she is hovering over Regina and that she is naked and on all fours. She spreads her legs, lowering herself, and when her core comes into contact with Regina’s nightgown a jolt of arousal flies through her body causing her to yelp.

The noise startles Regina and she breaks off the kiss and pushes Red off her body.

“We need to stop!” the Queen commands.

She is mortified. She thought Regina wanted this. She had thought this insane desire was mutual and now she can’t flee the bed quickly enough. Red rolls to her side in order to make her exist but a hand clasps around her wrist and a much less formidable voice asks her, “Where are you going?”

“I am leaving. I am doing both of us a favour.”

Regina moulds herself to Red’s back and wraps an arm around her waist, “I don’t want you to go.”

“Then can you at least spare me some embarrassment and let me put some clothes on?”

“But I like you like this,” a hand runs down her side, possessive and promising, and her whole body shivers.

She turns in the embrace to meet Regina’s eyes. “Why did you make us stop?”

Regina pulls her closer which is not a sensible move for someone who seems to what to put a halt to these proceedings, “Because you weren’t quite you.”

“What do you mean?”

Fingers run gently over her face before twisting into her hair. “I don’t think the transition back was quite complete.”

“Oh,” her own fingers toy with the neckline of Regina’s gown. “So you wanted to make sure I’d remember,” she says playfully.

Regina’s voice is not playful, it is solemn, “I wanted to make sure that you were _you_.”

“I kissed you last time, you must know I want this,” she has undone the cord at the top of Regina’s nightgown and pushed it down passed her shoulders.

“I will not take you by force and I will not have this be something that you don’t knowingly decide upon.”

The hand that had been caressing the newly exposed flesh freezes, “Has that happened to you?”

Regina closes her eyes, “Yes but don’t be mistaken I am just as guilty. I have done onto others as was done to me. The people are right to fear me. I am a monster.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Then you are a fool.”

“Perhaps,” she admits, “but I’m a fool who wants this.” She grabs Regina by the lower back, pulling her closer, and then crashes their lips together.

This time there are no orders to stop. There is nothing but lips and teeth and tongues and a sense of rightness. She pushes them over and tugs Regina’s gown up over her hips. She then pulls the Regina up to sitting so she can remove the garment completely. When Regina lies back down, flushed and exposed, Red stops in her tracks. Simply put, Regina is magnificent and Red bites at her own lip as she stares at the body on display before her.

“Is something wrong?” Regina asks with a cocked eyebrow and a wry smile. 

“I’m not very experienced with this,” she confesses, “and I’ve never bedded a woman before.”

“That doesn’t matter to me,” Regina takes her hand and runs her thumb across Red’s knuckles.

“I don’t think I want to hear about all the woman that you’ve bedded. I don’t think I’ll find that particularly comforting.”

“You are not the first,” Red knew this would be the case but it still makes her heart sink, “but you are _a_ first.”

“In what way.”

“This is the first time ever that I will be doing this with someone that I care for. I will be the first time that this is something that I actually want.” 

“Regina,” she says softly.

“I told you. I am not innocent in this. I have used sex as a weapon to get what I wanted and I have taken from others simply to find my release. You should know about me before you decide if you are going to do this.”

Regina clearly wants her to see a villain but the woman below her looks frightened and fragile. She takes the hand holding hers and places a kiss to its palm. “Sweetheart, you are known as the Evil Queen, do you honestly think I believe that you have not committed unspeakable acts.”

“Snow is the one who decided I was evil and everyone believed her. As they always do.”

“You did kill her father,” it is said with mirth but Regina’s eyes darken.

“ _He_ was a monster. I was basically a child. I am what he made me.”

She thinks of Snow, whom she has always trusted, who talks of her father in terms of wonder and adoration and then she looks at the wounded, haunted woman below her and suspects that Regina’s version of events might be closer to the truth. The kingdom still mourns the loss of a man that might never have existed. For all her faults, Regina is a least open about her crimes. “I’m sorry. I feel like I might have killed the mood. Do you still want to…” she doesn’t get to finish that sentence because a hand latches onto the back of her neck and draws her down for a powerful kiss. She settles herself on top of Regina basking in the feeling of skin on skin. They trade kisses and bites, her bottom lip is going to be bruised and swollen when they are done, and she slowly works her fingers over Regina’s chest. When she is finally game enough to place a hand over Regina’s breast Regina nods in encouragement. She places her own hand over Red’s and asks her to knead harder. 

Red continues as instructed while she kisses her way down Regina’s neck and across the bones of her chest. She pauses when she reaches Regina’s nipple but if Regina notices her hesitation, it doesn’t show. Red licks at the area and then wraps her lips around the hardened peak. Regina hisses in pleasure and Red increases the pressure until Regina arches her back and begins pulling at her own undergarments. 

“No,” Red smacks at her hands, "I get to take those off.”

“Then be quick about it,” Regina moans.

Red smiles wickedly and is painstaking slow in her process of sliding the underclothes over Regina’s hips and down her legs. Regina squirms in pleasant agony but to be honest Red isn’t making things easy on herself either. Regina arousal permeates the air and it is driving Red insane, she wants to get closer to that scent, to bury her nose there and never come back out. 

She sits back on her heals and admires the display before her, “You’re perfect,” she whispers.

“You are pretty impressive yourself,” Regina informs her.

“Yeah but you’ve seen me naked before.”

“Lucky me,” Regina tells her with a laugh.

Red pounces back on top of her and locks their lips together. Regina takes Red’s hand and slides it between their bodies. “Please,” the Queen begs, “I need you.”

Her fingers slip easily through the wetness under Regina’s guidance. Part of her is resentful of the assistance, she wants to be free to explore and she also wants to prove to Regina that she is capable of doing this without assistance, but when she looks down at Regina’s hooded eyes and panting mouth she knows that there are more important things than her wounded pride. 

Regina tilts her hand and pushes Red’s fingers inside of her. She allows Red to control the motion as she uses her own fingers to rub vigorously at the apex of her folds. Walls contract rhythmically around Red’s fingers as she pumps them in and out and it isn’t long before they produce a large spasm that has Regina’s eyelids fluttering while she calls out Red’s name.

Red removes the digits and licks them clean. The taste is intoxicating. It’s as sinful as blood but with less guilt. Although, when she considers who she is doing this with there probably should be at least a little guilt involved but woman below her, her lover she realises, doesn’t look evil. She doesn’t even look like a Queen. Regina looks wanton and messy and gorgeous and Red marvels at the thought that this creature is hers.

A hand reaches up to pull her down and Regina kisses her languidly. Lovingly. “Hmmmmm. I can taste me,” Regina tells her as she ends the kiss. “Now let me taste you.”

She suddenly finds herself on her back and Regina’s lips and fingers are everywhere. The Queen is talented and teasing and Red is not even aware that she is rocking her hips against her until Regina stills her with a hand and says, “Patience my dear.”

A path of kisses is burnt down the centre of her body heading directly to her core. The fire stops as Regina pauses to trace her fingers over the scar that runs from her hip around to her back. 

"Curtesy of one of your guards," she informs her. 

Regina stills, "If I find out who it was I'll kill them with my bare hands."

"I don't want you to do that."

"You could have died."

"But I didn't. I'm fine. There is no need for vengeance. There is most definitely a need for your lips to be back on my body though."

"Very well," Regina tucks her hair behind her ears and commences her trail anew. Red is almost undone by the first swipe of tongue across the sensitive flesh between her legs and she grabs at the sheets trying to maintain a grip on reality. Regina’s tongue is darting inside her and she feels like she is going to explode. Her hips buck wildly, smashing into Regina’s face and stopping her ministrations. She expects Regina to be angry but Regina laughs gleefully and says, “I guess we are going to have to work on the patience part.”

Regina returns to her task. She circles her tongue around an aching nub before sucking at it with might. Red is broken. She is flying and falling. The explosions in her head have been released throughout her body. She is dying and at the same time she has never felt more alive. Regina places kisses along her scar until the quaking stops and then moves up the bed to take Red into her arms.

They lie quietly, trading smiles and kisses and caresses, until Red’s stomach rumbles. “I suppose this means that we need to feed you,” the Queen says with an indulgent smile.

“Well I have definitely worked up an appetite this morning,” she says in a low voice.

The look Regina gives her in response makes her want to forgo food altogether. “I’ll summon the serving woman," Regina tells her before planting a kiss on her lips.

“Wait,” she cries.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think we need to talk.”

“About what?” Regina asks her warily.

“The woman who brings the food, isn’t she going to know what we have just done.”

Regina laughs deeply, “Oh I thought we had an actual problem.”

“I happen to think it’s a problem,” she can feel herself flushing all over.

“My darling, that serving woman, and every other person in this castle probably thinks we have been doing this since your very first visit.”

She gulps and blinks and is having a hard time making words form. “What? Why?” she asks angrily.

“We’ve taken breakfast in my rooms each time.”

“But we’ve never…why would they just assume that.”

“This is no reflection on your virtue Red, it’s what I normally would have done, and it’s better that this is seen to be nothing out of the ordinary as far as the staff are concerned."

“And is it,” she is suddenly plagued with doubts, “out of the ordinary, that is?”

Regina stills on the edge of the bed, her back to Red, and she regrets having asked the question. “You are important to me.”

“Good,” she moves to hug Regina from behind.

“Very important,” Regina amends and drops her head back onto Red’s shoulder.

“Even better,” she says as she places a kiss into Regina’s hair. 

“Now about that breakfast.”

“I’m not quite ready to get up,” she falls back onto the bed and takes Regina with her.

Regina rolls over to kiss her and twine their legs together and says, “If you are worried about what the staff think, this is probably not the correct move.”

“I don’t care. I just want to hold you a little longer.”

“Okay,” Regina says, her eyes wide and uncertain, and it’s suddenly clear to Red that Regina has known very little love in her life.

“You know,” she absently twirls a lock of Regina’s hair around her fingers, “I think the wolf chose you from the start.”

“Chose me for what?” Regina asks with concern in her voice.

“As its mate.”

“I see,” Regina pauses in thought, “that may not have been wise of it.”

“Perhaps the wolf isn’t all that bright.”

“I’ll try not to take offence at that,” Regina says with a huff but she splays her fingers across Red’s back and strokes her side with her thumb.

“I’m not at all unhappy with the wolf’s choice if that is of any concern to you.”

“What about your own choices, don’t they count?” Regina sounds in control but the hand on her back shakes slightly and she knows what it must have cost Regina to ask this question.

“The last time I chose someone it didn’t end very well.”

“What happened?” there is nothing but care and compassion in Regina’s eyes.

“The wolf ate the boy I loved,’ she says and she can hear the hollowness in her voice as she tries to drive the pain and shame away. Those feelings belong to another place, another time, they are neither welcome nor needed here.

“I loved a boy once,” Regina tells her in a similar dull tone, “I was to marry him but my mother ripped his heart out in front of me.”

“Well,” she says, “I still have my heart.” She can feel it pounding in her chest whenever she looks at Regina. It’s pounding now because she is not sure if this was the right tact to take. She had instinctively felt that it would be wrong to commiserate, that Regina would perceive that as weakness, but now she worries that she may have ruined everything.

“And you haven’t eaten me yet,” Regina replies dryly and Red releases the breath that she didn’t know that she was holding. “As relationships go. I think we are doing quite well.”

Her heart skips a beat to hear Regina refer to this as a relationship. “I think the wolf has better taste then me,” she says.

“Indeed,” Regina agrees with a smirk.

“I never would have chosen you,” she admits, “because I never would have imagined you wanting me back but I’m glad the wolf has no such concerns.”

“So am I,” Regina tells her tenderly.

“About that breakfast you offered. I think I’m going to need more than usual. You should think about eating more too because I do not plan on letting you out of this room today.” It’s the closest she’s ever come to agreeing to stay and although it’s only for a day she worries this is the start of the end. She has no idea what will happen to them when stolen days are no longer anywhere near enough.

. . . . . . . .

She finds herself dipping into despair. The hours that she spends with Red bring her joy, more joy than she has felt in a long time, possibly ever, but they do not last. How has this become her life? She has power beyond belief and yet her world ebbs and flows based on the comings and goings of a girl. She can bend people to her will. If she wanted to she could force Red to remain by her side but that would be a hollow victory.

If Red is to stay with her she wants it to be by choice. As the days wear on it becomes increasingly clear that it is not a choice the girl is going to make. Even a request for Red to stay a second night is met with stubborn resistance. 

Regina has toyed with people before and she gets the distinct impression that Red is playing with her. In the days that they are apart her anger boils inside her. She seethes and she rages and she takes it out on anyone who dares to cross her path. It seems like it will only be a matter of time before that ire is directed towards Red but each moon the sight of the wolf and the company of the girl soothes her. These temporary reprieves cannot last for ever and she lives in fear of the day that she will hurt one of them. 

It is that fear that leads her down darker and darker paths as she looks for a solution to this impasse. There has to be a way to stem this anger, to extinguish this rage that threatens to destroy everything that she holds dear. The search leads her to the curse and to the promise of happiness that she will never be able to find in this world. 

The Huntsman once again takes it on himself to counsel her against this action. He forgets himself, he is in no position to offer her advice, and she accuses him of jealousy. She cast him aside after the wolf was captured and while he claims to be grateful there is no escaping that fact that she owns his heart. 

The situation may not be ideal but she can't keep living for one day each moon and on Red's next visit, when she asks for an extra day and is rewarded with a turn of the hourglass instead, her decision is made. It is not a matter of if she will cast the curse but when.

. . . . . . . .

Something feels off. Regina is different. She’s not exactly distant but there is an absence in the way she holds Red, a loss in the way that Regina kisses her. It’s not unusual for there to be longing in the way Regina loves her but this is different. In every touch of Regina lips and hands there is a sense of finality. This feels suspiciously like a goodbye.

Red knows that Regina has been chasing magical answers and she has a horrible feeling that Regina has finally found one. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she asks.

Regina runs her eyes over Red’s naked body and then her hand repeats the journey, “If you have to ask that I’m clearly not doing this right.”

“Oh _this_ you are doing just fine,” she assures Regina.

Regina doesn’t answer she just raises an eyebrow and enters Red without warning. Red is more than ready for the intrusion and lets out a moan of pleasure as she thrusts against Regina’s fingers. All thoughts of Regina’s magic fly out of her head as she focuses on a different kind of magic. She bend her knees and digs her heels into bed and Regina smiles with smug satisfaction as she pumps three fingers deep inside of Red and teases her with her thumb.

Red is covered in sweat and breathing heavily when Regina leans over and kisses her gently and causes the world to come crashing down. Regina holds her gently and sucks at her shoulder until her body calms down. 

“I get the feeling that you were trying to distract me. Don’t get me wrong, you can distract me like that any time you like.”

Regina frowns at her, “You are too perceptive sometimes.”

“So something is wrong?”

“Not wrong, exactly,” Regina says unhelpfully.

“If not wrong then what?”

“You must know I’ve been searching for something.”

“I had heard tell of that, yes.”

“I think I may have found it.”

“I see,” her heart is hammering in her chest and she is certain that this is going to end very, very badly.

“It’s not necessarily what I was hoping it would be.”

“In what way?” she asks.

“It’s a curse,” Regina’s confession comes in hushed tones.

“You told me that all magic come with a price. What price does a curse require?”

“The highest,” is all Regina says.

Red swallows and tries very hard not to imagine what that might entail. “Maybe you won’t have to use it.”

“Maybe,” Regina says without conviction.

“I happen to know that Snow’s priorities are going to be changing, I'm not sure she will be bothering you quite so much."

"And why is that?" Regina asks dismissively as though Snow and her lives don't revolve around one another in a way that is beyond Red's comprehension. 

"She has other things to focus on."

"Such as?" Regina is more attentive now, she appears to find it insulting that Snow might have found something more important than their battle. 

"She is not announcing it but she's definitely with child."

"I see," Regina's eyes narrow and her voice is cold. Red had thought that the news of Snow's pregnancy would pacify things. She thought it was a good omen, a sign that life moves on and that there are more important things than Regina's blood feud with her step-daughter. There is nothing good about the ways she feels right now though, she is certain that she's managed to put the final nail in the coffin of her affair with Regina and that she has guaranteed that the curse will be cast.

. . . . . . . .

The sun is starting to rise in the sky when she feels arms wrap around her from behind. She turns in the embrace and collapses against Red. Hands stroke her back as Red murmurs sweet nothings in her ear. Tears fall unbidden and she can feel them sliding off her nose to land on Red’s skin.

“Oh Regina,” Red whispers, “what have you done?”

She should be offended but that both know that Red is right. “I tried to cast the curse.”

“Okay,” Red says, her voice full of disappointment.

“I didn’t work. I killed him and it didn’t work.”

“Who?” Red asks.

“Rocinante,” she tells her between sobs.

“Your horse?” Red sounds almost relieved.

“Yes. He’s dead and it’s for nothing.”

“This curse of yours requires animal blood?”

“I need to sacrifice the thing that I love the most.” Red stiffens in her arms. “For a long time he was the most important thing in my life, I thought he would meet the requirements of the curse and now he’s dead and all for nothing.”

“What does this mean?” Red asks and seems to be holding her breath. 

“It means I’ll have to kill him instead.”

“Him, who?”

“My valet.”

“That little guy who follows you around sometimes.”

“I suppose you could describe him that way.”

“He glares at me at times,” Red says grumpily.

“Does he?” she smiles fondly at the thought.

“You look like that pleases you,” Red is becoming angry, “who is he to you?”

“He’s my father,” she’s almost ashamed to admit it.

“Oh,” Red blinks at her and shakes her head, “oh, wow.”

The tears flow afresh. “I haven’t had the best parents in the world but he does love me and I do love him.”

“You know,” Red’s words are slow and careful, “for a moment there I was jealous.”

“That is something that you have never needed to be,” she tells Red and she means every word.

“I’m still a little jealous.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I would die for your happiness. Don’t you know that?”

Red won’t even stay a second night, she can’t possibly mean what she says but Regina doesn’t challenge her. “I don’t want that for you.”

“I’ve risked my life every time that I have come to you.”

“My people would never have harmed you. They wouldn’t have dared,” she would have executed them for so much as thinking about it.

“But my people might have,” Red points out.

“Aren’t they meant to be the good guys?” she asks as she wipes at her tears.

“So they say but many of them were never all that comfortable with who I am.”

“Then they are ignorant as Snow and Charming.”

“Maybe,” Red looks are her with large eyes. “What’s going to happen to me? When you cast the curse I mean. What’s going to happen to me?”

“I’m not sure,” and she isn’t, the details of the curse, other than her happiness, are unclear.

“But I’ll be cursed, right?”

“Yes. Yes I suppose so.” The people may call her the Evil Queen but she has never really believed that that title was accurate until now.

“Then I want you to consider how you cast the curse.”

“It’s too late not to cast it. Blood is already on my hands.”

“I know that you will cast it. I’m just asking you to consider _how_ you cast it.”

Her throat closes over and she wonders if she is ever going to be able to stop crying, “I don’t want to kill you.”

“But perhaps I’d rather die for your happiness than be cursed.”

“Red,” she says emphatically, “No, just no.”

“I’m only asking you to think about it,” Red says and holds her so tightly she fears her ribs might break.

“I will,” she promises but as evil as she is there are still some lines that she knows that she cannot cross.

. . . . . . . .

It is a new world in absolutely every sense. She has been waiting a long time to look in the mirror and like what she sees but right now she doesn’t even recognise herself. Her hair is short and her clothes are strange. The material is lux between her fingers, these are certainly not the clothes of a commoner, but they are not what she is used to.

There is a demureness to this attire that she never would have tolerated while she was in the Enchanted Forest but she is unfamiliar with the workings of this world. It’s seems unlikely but perhaps this is the way the powerful dress here.

As she explores her new world it becomes clear that her attire does indeed set her apart from the other residents. It is also clear that they defer to her as they should but that their fear of her is muted here. They fear her enough to do her bidding but not enough to rebel against her. 

It amuses her to see the people she knew implanted into this new world. If she thought her own hair was a shock, Snow’s is ludicrous. She didn’t know that so little could bring her so much joy.

Her first sighting of Red sets her heart racing. She knows Red didn’t want to be cursed but seeing her is such a comfort to Regina that she can’t possibly regret her decision. Red is wearing so little that Regina can't really think. Her lust is controlling her brain as she walks by her and admires all that she sees. Later, when she can think about something other than Red’s long legs, she is a little perturbed by Red’s appearance. 

She has become accustomed to protecting Red’s body from prying eyes and it seems incongruous to be somewhere designed for her happiness and have Red essentially exposed to the world. This is a not a world she would have created but in a world of her creation Red would not be cursed. Magic has a price, she reminds herself. 

Regina has always known that the price of magic was high. Since the first spell that she ever cast she has felt her soul eroding away piece by precious piece. In order to cast this curse she killed both her father and Rocinante and she didn’t question the cost of her actions for any length of time. Thinking about the version of Red that she has seen in this world gives her pause though. This is not what she wanted for Red, not at all.

That feeling only intensifies when she visits the ‘diner’ and speaks to this world’s version of Red. This is not the girl that she knows. Red’s spirit is diminished, this girl lacks fire. Ruby is not the person Red was. Her glee at seeing Red alive is replaced by the regret. She has been selfish. She has let her fear destroy everything that mattered.

. . . . . . . .

The world is ending. The curse is no more and now that it is broken her life is over. She has ruined everything for a curse that wasn’t what she thought it was. Storybrooke isn’t the source of her happiness, not anymore. It gave her happy moments when Henry was small but she couldn’t hold onto them. She’d never been able to hold on to the things she loves.

“I don’t want you here when they come,” she tells Red.

“You got your way when your cast the curse,” Red responds.

Red can certainly play dirty when she has to, not that the girl doesn’t have a point. “Yes I did. Clearly I am a monster. You should stay away from me, I will destroy you.”

"I've always known who you are, what you are capable of," Red looks at her as if she is as simple as a Charming. "That has never been an issue."

"Never?" she can feel her eyebrow arching.

"Well," Red smiles, "it concerned me but to less than the appropriate degree.”

“How can you treat this so lightly?” It annoys her that Red refuses to take this seriously.

Red grasps her hand tightly and says, “I fell in love with an Evil Queen. When you do that you learn to have a sense of humour about these sort of things.”

“There is a lot of blood on my hands,” she warns Red.

“And there’s a lot of blood on mine. Is this meant to be a competition?”

“No,” Regina says with frustration, “it’s meant to be a reminder that I’m not worth saving.”

“I happen to think you are and if I need to step in front of a mob to protect you then that’s what I will do.”

“You’re impossible,” she complains and Red beams in response. 

“So,” Red says with a playful smile, “what’s new?” 

“Not a lot,” she says and it’s the truth. It’s new world but people her still want her dead.

“That’s not what I hear.” Red’s playful nature has moved to the point where she feels that it’s okay to plant a kiss on Regina’s neck.

“Is that so,” she tilts her neck to the side to allow Red more access, “and what is it that you’ve heard?"

“Well for starters you’re a mom.”

Red’s words hit like a bullet. “Not anymore. Henry is not interested in me. He has Emma now.”

“He’ll come around,” Red says with confidence that Regina doesn’t feel.

“How can you be so sure,” her words have taken on a dreamy tone in response to the fact that Red is sucking on the pulse point of her neck.

“Because I know how impossible it is to let you go.”

“I’m sorry for cursing you,” she says and she means it. “I’m sorry for turning you into something that you're not."

“I know,” Red responds, "and I forgive you."

“You can’t possibly mean that.”

“And yet I do.”

“I ruined everything you have every right to hate me.”

Red grabs her hand and places it over her chest. She can feel Red’s heart beating, firm and strong, beneath her fingers. “I still have my heart and I haven’t eaten you. I think you’ll find that means that our relationship is doing just fine.”

Regina’s heart sores at the thought of this still being a relationship. “I know I’m in no position to make any demands but this time I need more.”

“Okay,” Red agrees.

“It was everything when you were with me but I need more than one night a month.”

“Understood.”

"I'm talking about real commitment here."

Red sighs but she's patient as she says, "I'm aware."

This doesn't mark sense. This can't be real. "I couldn't even get you to stay an extra night in the Enchanted Forrest," Regina reminds her. 

"That was a different a different world with different rules. I'm not saying I'm ready to move in right here and right now but I am definitely ready to spend more than one night with you."

"How can things have changed that much?" Red has lived in this town, the girl knows how these people feel about their mayor.

"I had a little window into a world without you and that's definitely not what I what," Red tells her with a half smile. "Also your place is really, really nice Madam Mayor, I'm not at all opposed to staying here."

"My life is a little complicated at the moment," she protests lamely. 

"So there are people lining up to kill you, that's hardly new information."

"And there's Henry," she says, "or at least there used to be." 

“Regina,” Red says with affection, “I am already planning on taking your son to little league games once the two of you sort things out.”

“Storybrooke’s little league is far from impressive,” she informs Red.

“Way to hone in on the important part when I am telling you that I want us to be a family.”

“Little league is a lot less scary.”

Red positions them so they are lying together on Henry’s bed. The act itself is chaste but there is passion behind it. “I’m not frightened and I’m not going anywhere,” Red tells her.

“How can you possibly still want this?”

Long fingers trace patterns over her blazer, “You’re all I ever wanted. The kid is a surprise but I can deal with that.”

She runs her thumb over Red’s lips, “I love you.”

“I know.” Red tells her.

“I’ve always loved you.”

“I know that too.” Red places a gentle kiss to her lips.

“How can you when I didn’t know until right this moment?”

“I may be slower than the wolf when it comes to these things but at least I’m ahead of you.”

“You shouldn't speak to your mayor like that,” Regina says with irritation.

“I spoke to the Queen like that, I’m hardly worried about a politician.” Red hooks her leg over Regina’s hip and Regina’s runs her hand all the way along the smooth skin until she reaches Ruby’s ass. “We are definitely going to need to talk about the clothes you put me in though and what the hell have you done to my hair?” Red points at a coloured streak. 

“I am all in favour of you covering up in public but I happen to think that you look great.” She says and then sinks into the kiss that Red initiates. 

She has moved worlds in order to reclaim what was already hers. It all seems rather pointless but she thinks about Red and her talk of family and wonders if maybe this world can be different for both of them. There might be a lynch mob coming but she can’t help thinking that her happy ending start right here and right now.


End file.
